When we left off last night, the Cap'n promised to pick up with more movies that I feel didn't get a fair shake. Chances are you were more familiar with these movies than Appaloosa, Man on Wire, Redbelt, or In Bruges. That doesn't mean you saw them, or even planned on seeing them. While I totally understand, as I rendered similar judgments early on, the Cap'n is here to stand up for some more gems from 2008.
Since we're dealing with more than five movies, I'm going to keep it short. I ran long last night and don't expect you to listen to me ramble. Without further ado, on with the show.
Burn After Reading - I know three people who saw this movie and liked it. I know many people who a) didn't like it, or b) didn't see it because they heard bad things. While this is not Lebowski-caliber Coen Brothers, it is every bit as clever as any of their "takes" on genre: in this case the Spy Thriller. Brad Pitt's Chad is like nothing you've seen him do, and he's the tip of the iceberg.
Sukiyaki Western Django - Takeshi Miike's ode to the Spaghetti Western, cut down from 2+ hours in Japan to a lean 90 minutes. To say it's his most accesible film is still a daunting test for viewers, but this movie is just weird enough on all levels to keep you watching.
Kung Fu Panda - Fact: This movie is not Wall-E. Fact: This movie deserved to be nominated. Don't take "it's not as good as Wall-E" to mean "it's not good". Kung Fu Panda is a movie designed to get kids into chop sockey films, and while they're learning fighting styles, fans of the Shaw Brothers are grinning from ear to ear. Seriously, Wall-E's transcendence shouldn't keep you from watching the first really good Dreamworks animated movie.
Youth Without Youth - Francis Ford Coppola returns from a long drought with a challenging, experimental film based on a Mircea Eliade novel. This is not a movie you can tune out and expect to follow, and it really merits a second viewing. Some took that as damning, but Youth Without Youth is worth the time of anyone looking for grown up filmmaking.
Zack and Miri Make a Porno - Kevin Smith's best movie since Clerks. There, I said it. Smith finally balances his dialogue with the story and keeps it funny. Is it the obvious Apatow influence? I don't know, but he's got me interested for the first time in years for his next movie.
Rambo - Gore Fest. Idiotic. Cheeseball. I understand how and why Rambo gets slapped with these labels. I can't disagree necessarily. What they miss is the fact that the violence in Rambo is disturbing and the moral of the film is ambiguous at most. Like Rocky Balboa, Sly Stallone returns to his series and makes a sequel worthy of their respective namesakes.
Son of Rambow - Technically, this is a 2007 movie, but it only opened here in limited release last year. The connection to First Blood and John Rambo is really just the catalyst for the story, but Hammer & Tongs come back from Hitch-Hiker's with a much better followup. Not without its problems, but since you could only find it at Best Buy, almost everyone missed it.
Leatherheads - George Clooney got it hard for this movie, but it's nothing like you've heard. Leatherheads is a movie of the screwball era, one that dares to play it straight without a trace of irony. And it was killed by critics for doing so, unfairly from where I'm sitting. If you like the sensibility of O Brother Where Art Thou, then Leatherheads will be right up your alley.
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer - Now it's my turn to apologize for doubting a movie. I get suspicious when horror directors make it clear they want a franchise. The artwork bothered me, seemed to be lifting shamelessly from the Evil Dead series, and I held out. When I finally watched Jack Brooks, two things were apparent: 1) this movie isn't as wild as you'd think it would be, 2) the next movie will probably be even better. Awkward pacing aside, it's fun. And kudos for giving Robert Englund an actual ROLE and not just a cameo.
The Bank Job - I know Cranpire got bored, and The Bank Job isn't the movie Lion's Gate advertised it to be. The heist is a small portion of the film, the action is really limited to two scenes, and Jason Statham is here to act and not kick ass. If you get past this and watch the whole film, it is a throwback to films of the seventies where the real tension happens after the action set piece. I found it anything but boring.
Be Kind, Rewind - Another movie that was advertised as something it wasn't. I really think people were expecting an entire movie of Jack Black and Mos Def "swede-ing" films with Michel Gondry behind the camera. But that's not how Be Kind, Rewind rolls. It's a love letter to small neighborhoods. The video store is a component to it, but community is the center of Be Kind, Rewind. If you know this going in, it might not be so frustrating. The "swedes" are a very small, if quite funny, component.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall / Role Models / Semi-Pro / Pineapple Express / Step Brothers - Finally, I'm going to lump all of these R rated comedies together because you must have turned away from at least one of them or heard bad things about another.
For the most part, Will Ferrel got the brunt of this, and Semi-Pro and Step Brothers are much better than the rep they got. Both are unrepentantly filthy movies, so if you're easily offended this is not the path to follow. If you don't mind the raunch, these are consistently warped and frequently hilarious movies.
Forgetting Sarah Marshall is male wish fufillment, to say the least (particularly for writier / star Jason Segel), but it is pretty funny. It taught me to give Russell Brand the benefit of the doubt after those terrible VMA's, too. He's actually quite appropriate in the movie, and plays a more nuanced character than you'd expect.
Role Models is a hybrid of Apatow-style with the sensibility of David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), so it deals with more twisted characters than any of the other films above. I'd nearly written it off after Drillbit Taylor, but it was the right decision to see this on Christmas night. I'll own this if for nothing other than the "Beyonce Pouring Sugar on my Dick" drawing.
Pineapple Express divides readers right down the middle. I know many of you who HATE this movie, and just as many who love it. Strangely, it doesn't fall into the "stoner / non-stoner" category you'd expect. I will concede that the pacing and excessive violence really test your capacity to stay with the movie, but it worked for me. I don't think you need to be stoned or love 80s action movies to enjoy Pineapple Express and a healthy understanding of both didn't help a number of you. Shrug.
For me, all of the movies listed above were worth watching (some more than once) despite their bad raps. Are we going to agree on all of them? I doubt it. As stated above, I disagree with several of you on some of these movies, and that's okay. We're not supposed to agree on everything. I mean seriously, how many of you are actually going to watch Death Race? Be honest.
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